State of Monc

From the very beginning, the aim was to fuse together complex, impassioned jazz with adventurous, dance-rooted electronics. With their unique and innovative sound and their striking position within the band collective The Dutch Nu-Jazz Movement, State Of Monc puts the Netherlands firmly on the map of the future of jazz.

Germany has Jazzanova, France has St. Germain, and in the Netherlands we have State Of Monc. (Geert Jan Jacobs, in OOR magazine)

The hip and tight music produced by State Of Monc will surprise you time and again. Their search for the perfect balance between electronic beats and sounds, brass instrumentation and acoustic bass and drums opens up more and more new roads and appeals to fans of jazz, dance and experimental music. The warm sounds of the bass and the sometimes drawling, cool yet predominantly staccato and funky brass and wind instruments are successfully married together with the robust sound and drum programming of the computer. All the possibilities within this search for man-and-machine-created music are used to their maximum potential by State Of Monc.

A long time has passed since the days as finalists in the Grote Prijs van Nederland (the Big Dutch Awards Show) in the category Dance. Since 2000, the band has been actively building up its profile with performances in Germany, Morocco and Ukraine, and State Of Monc whipped up positive confusion at festivals with their lively and groove-oriented new style of jazz. They not only took their warmly-welcomed “nu-jazz” to the Amsterdam Dance Event and the North Sea Jazz Festival, but also performed in the country’s most prestigious clubs, such as Paradiso, Melkweg and 013.

The first album Hand To Mouth was released on EDM/City Groovez. Their impressive debut was followed in 2006 by Clippertron and Clippertron Extended in 2008. Both albums were released by Challenge Records and produced by Michel Schoots and State Of Monc. 2010 is the year of the live CD/DVD Phantom Speaker. Michel Schoots (formerly of Urban Dance Squad) – the pop producer who has previously worked with Kane, Di-rect and Ilse DeLange - is involved again. Half of the tracks on the CD are brand new, previously unreleased.
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